Last words from slain Marine to girlfriend: ‘ACTIVE SHOOTER’

Mourners arrive at the home of Cathy Wells, the mother of Skip Wells, one of the four Marines killed in Thursday's shooting in Chattanooga, Tenn., Friday, July 17, 2015, in Marietta, Ga. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

They were four people charged with the safety of others, gunned down in a place where the nation’s defense is the paramount mission for those who pass through its doors. They are being deemed heroes by some, and the cruel irony of protectors becoming targets was not lost, with President Barack Obama calling it “a heartbreaking circumstance” to lose four men who served “with great valor.”

Here is a look at the Marines killed in the attack on two military facilities in Chattanooga, Tennessee:

SKIP WELLS

Lance Cpl. Squire Wells, who was known as Skip, was swapping text messages Thursday with his girlfriend of 2